Max Guevara, also known as X5-452, was a transgenic X5 series who, along with eleven others, escaped from the Manticore facility in 2009. Years later, she became the leader of a group of transgenics living in the dangerous Terminal City.
Childhood
Life at Manticore
Born to a surrogate mother sometime around the turn of the twenty-first century, Max was raised and trained as a soldier from a very young age by military handlers, under the command of Colonel Donald Lydecker, at a facility located in Gillete, Wyoming called Manticore. During this time, Max developed a close bond with her unit-mates, particularly Zack, the unit leader.
From the beginning, the X5's training was harsh and rigorous, sometimes downright brutal. In addition, they were subjected to powerful psychological conditioning, as well as cruel medical experiments. As Max would later say, they didn't think to escape because, after all, they didn't know there was anything else to escape to.
Throughout their lives, the X5's were plagued by a design flaw: a neurological disorder that caused random and violent seizures. Back at Manticore, Max witnessed a fellow X5 who suffered a seizure during a drill and was taken away, never to be seen again. To temporarily suppress the seizures, Max took Tryptophan, an essential amino acid necessary for normal growth and development.
During this time, there was one incident that haunted the memories of the young soldiers: a training exercise requiring them to hunt down and kill a prisoner. They accomplished this with such ruthless effectiveness that even Lydecker was alarmed by their exhilaration and savagery. Afterwards, Max was greatly disturbed by what had happened and tried to forget about it, but never could.
Escape
Eventually, the X5's decided they'd had enough, and escaped from Manticore. After one member of the unit, Eva, was shot by Lydecker, her "siblings" finally realized that they truly meant nothing to their CO; they were just materiel to him. Led by Zack, they broke out of Manticore and fled into the forest. After rendezvousing in a clearing a safe distance from the building, Zack split the group up and sent them in different directions. Max didn't think separating was wise, but complied, and, as Zack stayed behind to hold up their pursuers, climbed the fence and disappeared into the night.
While trying to decide what to do, Max was discovered by a Manticore nurse who offered her help. Max, somewhat suspicious, accepted, and stayed at the nurse's cabin for several hours before continuing.
The Pulse and Beyond
Max eventually was taken in by a foster family living in Los Angeles, and lived there for several months. During this time, she and her foster sister, Lucy, had to put up with Lucy's abusive, alcoholic father, which eventually convinced Max to leave. Around this time, disaster struck on a global scale: terrorists detonated a nuclear weapon in the sky high above the United States, producing a powerful electromagnetic pulse which destroyed virtually every electronic device within thousands of miles, immediately plunging the country into total anarchy.